OpenAI Merchant Tools

OpenAI merchant tools are OpenAI’s move to turn ChatGPT into a real commerce surface, not just a research assistant. Instead of stopping at product discovery, ChatGPT can now show buying options and, in some cases, let users complete a purchase directly inside the conversation. For brands and sellers, this creates a new channel where discovery and conversion happen in one flow. From a growth and go-to-market point of view, this shift matters most to teams thinking in terms of demand capture and channel strategy, which is why it often gets discussed alongside frameworks taught in Marketing and Business Certification programs.

What OpenAI merchant tools include

When people talk about OpenAI merchant tools, they usually mean a bundled set of features working together. The first is shopping and product discovery inside ChatGPT, where products appear naturally as part of conversational answers. The second is Instant Checkout in ChatGPT, which allows a user to buy a product without leaving the chat interface. The third is the Agentic Commerce Protocol, often shortened to ACP, which is the technical layer that allows ChatGPT, merchants, and payment providers to coordinate a transaction. Together, these form OpenAI’s current merchant stack.

How merchants get started

There are two main paths, depending on how your business is set up.

Official merchant onboarding

OpenAI runs a dedicated onboarding flow at chatgpt.com/merchants. Merchants apply here to have their products appear in ChatGPT shopping results and to enable Instant Checkout. This route is designed for sellers who want official placement and support inside ChatGPT’s shopping experience.

Developer-led integration

OpenAI also publishes commerce documentation for teams that want deeper integration. This includes details on product feeds, agent-driven checkout, and delegated payments. This path is more relevant for businesses with custom storefronts or internal commerce systems, and it usually makes more sense for teams with a strong technical foundation built through a Tech Certification.

Instant Checkout explained

Instant Checkout allows a user to complete a purchase inside ChatGPT rather than clicking through to a merchant website. According to OpenAI’s announcements, Instant Checkout is available to U.S. users across Pro, Plus, and logged-in Free tiers, with expansion planned over time. One detail that matters for merchants is this. OpenAI is not the merchant of record. The seller still handles payment processing, shipping, returns, refunds, and customer support. ChatGPT acts as the interface, not the seller. At launch, Instant Checkout supports single-item purchases, with multi-item carts expected later.

How the Agentic Commerce Protocol works

The Agentic Commerce Protocol is the infrastructure that makes Instant Checkout possible. In simple terms, it standardizes how an AI agent like ChatGPT communicates with a merchant’s backend and payment system. The goal is to let AI-driven purchases happen without forcing merchants to rebuild their entire stack. A typical flow looks like this: ChatGPT sends an order request through ACP The merchant backend receives and approves the request Payment is processed by the merchant Fulfillment, returns, and support remain with the merchant Stripe has described ACP as being designed to work across platforms and processors, not just one ecosystem. This kind of system-level design is often explored more deeply in Deep Tech Certification learning paths.

Product feeds and why they matter

For products to appear correctly in ChatGPT shopping results, merchants provide structured product data through a Product Feed Specification. This feed tells ChatGPT what you sell, how much it costs, and whether it is available. Without this structure, conversational shopping becomes unreliable very quickly. The idea is similar to structured data in traditional search, but adapted for chat-based discovery and agent-driven buying.

Pricing and fees

This is an area where confirmed information and reported details need to be separated. What OpenAI confirms is that Instant Checkout is free for users and that merchants pay a fee on completed purchases. What is widely reported is that a 4 percent transaction fee applies to some Shopify sales completed through ChatGPT checkout, with rollout beginning January 26, 2026. This figure has been attributed to statements from a Shopify spokesperson and repeated in multiple industry reports. OpenAI has not published a universal public rate card, so fees should be treated as context-specific rather than guaranteed.

Does Instant Checkout affect ranking

Merchants often worry that enabling checkout might change how their products are ranked. OpenAI states that using Instant Checkout does not guarantee better placement in ChatGPT shopping results. Ranking is described as being influenced by factors such as price, availability, quality signals, whether the merchant is a primary seller, and user experience. According to OpenAI, the goal is relevance, not paid placement.

Common merchant concerns

Across forums and industry discussions, a few concerns appear repeatedly. Attribution is a major one. Merchants want to understand how a ChatGPT conversation connects to a completed sale, especially when the journey is not linear. Margins are another concern. A transaction fee feels closer to a marketplace commission than traditional advertising, and sellers debate whether the trade-off makes sense. Channel dependence also comes up often. Many merchants remember becoming overly reliant on search engines or marketplaces and are cautious about repeating that pattern with AI-driven discovery. These questions are especially important for teams thinking strategically about channel mix and long-term control.

How technical does this get

For many merchants, the technical lift is relatively light. Platforms like Shopify are expected to handle much of the integration behind the scenes. OpenAI and Stripe both position ACP as a low-change protocol, meaning most merchants do not need to overhaul their backend. Custom storefronts usually require more developer involvement, either directly or through a gateway that already supports ACP. So the short answer is minimal work for platform sellers and more hands-on effort for custom stacks.

Expansion beyond simple products

OpenAI’s ambitions go beyond small, single-item purchases. Instacart has been reported as bringing full grocery purchasing into ChatGPT via Instant Checkout. This signals that OpenAI is aiming at real retail workflows, not just digital or lightweight commerce.

Final takeaway

OpenAI merchant tools combine conversational shopping, Instant Checkout, and the Agentic Commerce Protocol into a new commerce channel where discovery and purchase happen in one place. Merchants remain responsible for fulfillment and support and pay a transaction fee on completed sales. Integration is relatively simple for platform sellers and more involved for custom systems. The opportunity is clear. ChatGPT becomes a new discovery and conversion layer. The risk is also clear. Merchants need to think carefully about fees, attribution, and long-term reliance on another powerful distribution channel.